Murtha libel suit appears dead on arrival

RAW STORY
Published: Monday August 14, 2006

A lawsuit brought against prominent war critic Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) accusing him of libel and invasion of privacy will likely be shelved due to a Federal act protecting lawmakers from being sued, RAW STORY has learned.

According to Roll Call, the lawsuit, brought by Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich after Murtha made comments regarding an alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians by Marines last year, can be dismissed under the 1946 Federal Tort Claims act. The FCTA protects government employees, officials, lawmakers and judges from certain liability claims, as long as those in questions are acting "within the scope of their official duties."

Even Wuterich's attorney acknowledged to Roll Call that winning the suit against Murtha would be "a long shot at best" due to FCTA protection.

Murtha has been criticized in some circles for publicly advancing his opinion on the massacre in question, calling the perpetrators "war criminals [who] murdered these people." The congressman, a decorated war veteran himself, responded in May on CNN's Paula Zahn Now: "You will see that everything that I'm saying turns out to be true. I'm the messenger. I'm not the guy that committed the crime. The crime is what we should be focusing on, not ... these allegations."

Excerpts from Roll Call's registration-restricted article follow...

#

Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich sued Murtha on Aug. 2, charging that Murtha has "publicly and falsely accused" the Marines involved in the Nov. 19 incident of "cold-blooded murder and war crimes" without factual evidence to support the claim. In the incident, 24 Iraqi civilians died, and U.S. military officials are investigating whether the Marine unit that Wuterich belonged to killed the Iraqis as revenge for the death of one of their own comrades.

Wuterich also alleged in his lawsuit that the comments by the Pennsylvania Democrat — who has become a leading hawk-turned-critic of the Iraq war — were "outside of Mr. Murtha's scope of employment as a Congressman."

But Jeffrey Axelrad, a leading expert on the FTCA, said the suit has no chance of succeeding.

"This case is likely to be dismissed," said Axelrad, who ran the FTCA office at the Justice Department for more than 25 years. Axelrad, now a professional lecturer in law at George Washington University Law School, called Wuterich's lawsuit "very dubious."

Mark Zaid, Wuterich's attorney, acknowledged that winning a libel lawsuit against Murtha would be "a long shot at best" due to the protections afforded Murtha under the FTCA.

#